10 Favorite Magic Kingdom Secrets

The Magic Kingdom is the most visited and most loved of all the Walt Disney World Parks. It’s also full of detail and hidden magic thoughtfully and meticulously place by Disney Imagineers. Most people already know about the tunnels (called utilidors) underneath the park, so we’ll skip that one for now. The next time you are visiting the Magic Kingdom, see if you can spot the following ten of our favorite Magic Kingdom secrets.

#1

At the Be Our Guest Restaurant there is a secret menu item. Ask for “The Grey Stuff,” which is referenced in the song “Be Our Guest.” Let us know if it is delicious as the song alleges.

#2

At one point, the parking lots at the Magic Kingdom were named after six of the seven dwarves. There was never a “Doc” lot because designers thought it would be confused by visitors for the ferry docks.

#3

The water on the Jungle Cruise is dyed in order to make it appear much deeper than it actually is. And how deep is it? Approximately 5 feet deep. Walt Disney wanted the Jungle Cruise to have real animals but was not able to figure out how to properly implement it.

#4

Main Street USA is a little slice of Americana. Flying high above this idyllic small town setting you’ll see about a dozen American flags, but look closely and you might notice something rather odd… none of them have 50 stars! Is this Disney just trying to be historically accurate for a specific time period? Nope. The real reason is that flags with less then 50 stars don’t count as real flags, so they do not have to be taken down in poor weather or illuminated at night. A sharp eye will find these type of flags throughout Walt Disney World.

#5

Here’s a twofer. The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh ride was formerly Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. During the Pooh ride, you can see a picture of Mr. Toad handing the deed over to Owl. After Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride closed, a tombstone of Mr. Toad was placed in the graveyard at The Haunted Mansion.

#6

There are 13 lanterns – one for each original colony – hanging from the Liberty Tree, the giant Southern Live Oak in Liberty Square. In the Disney movie Johnny Tremain, colonists hang lanterns from the Liberty Tree in celebration of the Boston Tea Party.

#7

All of the various walkways at the Magic Kingdom have colored concrete, which colors correspond to each area. But you might notice that there is a brown winding path that moves through the middle of Liberty Square’s red walkway. It’s meant to represent the raw sewage that flowed down the streets of Colonial America back before indoor plumbing was prevalent.

#8

The crashed plane in the Jungle Cruise ride is actually the back half of the Lockheed Electra plane used in the movie Casablanca. The front half of this plane can be found in the Casablanca portion of the Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

#9

If you are able to stick around the Magic Kingdom past closing time, you’ll be treated to what’s known as the Kiss Goodnight Show on Cinderella Castle. This unadvertised, little-known show takes place roughly 30 minutes after all the rides have closed. It features the original dedication speech given by Roy Disney at the grand opening of the Magic Kingdom.

#10

This article wouldn’t have a place on the Hidden Mickey Society website if we didn’t mention at least one Hidden Mickey. Well, you should be able to spot at least four Hidden Mickeys in the final scene of the Carousel of Progress. Mickey appears as a nutcracker on the fireplace mantle, a plush peeking out from a present, a white peppermill on the kitchen counter, and an abstract painting on the dining room wall.

These are some of our favorite Magic Kingdom secrets. What secrets do you know that could be added to this list?